The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
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Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
13-09-2025
Camera trap in Chile detects strange lights blazing through the wilderness. Researchers are scrambling to explain them.
Camera trap in Chile detects strange lights blazing through the wilderness. Researchers are scrambling to explain them.
Unexplained lights caught by a wildlife camera in Patagonia confounded researchers in January.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)
On Jan. 21, at 12:22 a.m. local time, in the silence and darkness of Chile's Patagonia region, a camera trap used to monitor wildlife for a project run by the University of Magallanes (UMAG) captured, in 2 seconds, three photographs showing intense lights moving downward.
Everyone was baffled.
"On a camera located at the edge of a meadow, quite far from any public road and focused on a flat horizon, some lights appeared that we cannot explain," biologist Alejandro Kusch said in a UMAG podcast in August. "Apparently, these lights, which are initially distant, approach and remain in front of the camera, dazzling it, in a movement that appears to be descending."
Kusch is one of the leaders of the Public Baseline project, which uses 65 camera traps distributed between continental Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, on the southern tip of Chile, to record terrestrial animals, particularly felines. Since the project began in November 2023, at least 365,000 images and videos have been collected; however, only these three photographs show this phenomenon.
UMAG shared the images with a variety of organizations, from Chile's General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (SEFAA)to the La Serena UFO Museum, and to several people who analyze anomalous aerial phenomena.
Potential explanations ranged from an arachnid coming very close to the camera lens to that of a "plasmoid," a short-lived form of plasma rarely observed in nature that may be behind phenomena such as ball lightning. However, all specialists agreed: for now, there is no conclusive explanation.
This sighting is unique because it was recorded within the framework of a scientific project, said Rodrigo Bravo, a researcher with the Environmental Studies Group (GEA) at UMAG and a member of the Public Baseline project. That means there is no possibility of fraud or manipulation, as the camera traps operate under rigorous protocols and are equipped with an infrared system, motion sensor, and other features that would preclude people tampering with them, he argued.
"This is not the first time these phenomena have been described in the area, but it is the first time they have been recorded in this way," Bravo told Live Science.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)A series of images captured by UMAG’s camera trap. The entire sequence took 2 seconds to record.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)The sequence of the recording captured by UMAG’s camera trap.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Rodrigo Bravo Garrido)The sequence of the recording captured by UMAG’s camera trap.
Bad lights
The local Mapuche people traditionally speak of "bad lights," which they believe are spirits that appear in the fields. This raises the possibility that the camera traps are finally capturing a phenomenon that has long been recognized in the region.
But even if these strange flashes are the "bad lights" the Mapuche speak of, what are they?
One possibility is that the lights are unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), possibly from a mysterious flying object. Some declassified Pentagon files on UAP show similar characteristics, Bravo added. Generally poor-quality data means that most UAP sightings cannot be confirmed or explained, but common explanations include foreign spy drones and "airborne clutter" such as birds and weather balloons.
To address that possibility, UMAG sent photos and video to Freddy Alexis, who discusses UFOs and other unknown phenomena on his TV programs on UCVTV, the station of the Catholic University of Valparaíso.
Alexis wrote two reports on his findings, which included trajectory, spectrographic, and relief analyses of the photographs and videos. In the second report, he wrote that only a single "luminous stimulus" is visible, not two, and that the other "lights" are internal lens reflections.
According to Alexis, the primary light may be a plasmoid, or a bubble of incandescent ionized gas that is confined by Earth's local magnetic field, and that can remain stable for a few seconds. The most familiar atmospheric example is ball lightning, usually associated with storms. But that is where his explanation hits a wall. "It was summer, with 48 degrees Fahrenheit [8 degrees Celsius], and there were no electrical storms," Alexis told Live Science. "There were no atmospheric conditions for a storm, so it is very unlikely that ball lightning could have formed."
A photograph capturing the rare phenomenon of ball lightning. Ball lightning typically occurs during storms, but the weather was clear on the day the lights were recorded. (Image credit: “ball of fire.” by Storm Wolf, CC BY-ND 2.0)
But more exotic plasmoids have been proposed under special conditions, such as transient, localized changes in Earth's magnetic field.
Still, Alexis noted that there may be other, poorly understood atmospheric plasmoids, similar to the "mysterious lights" of Hessdalen, Norway. Like the Magallanes phenomenon, these lights defy conventional explanations and could involve plasma structures that are still poorly understood.
In one of his reports, Alexis also calculated that, assuming this was a distant, flying object, it would have been moving at a speed of 590 mph (947 km/h), or roughly 0.7 times the speed of sound. Alexis suggested that the lights might not be a flying object, but some plasmoids can move at high speeds, he added.
A strange creature
In a separate report, technicians from La Serena UFO Museum suggested that a spider or moth may have inadvertently tripped the camera's sensor. That's because in the first photo, what appears to be an insect or arachnid can be seen along one edge of the image. However, the insect does not appear in the subsequent photos.
While one possibility is that the insect triggered the camera, this would only explain why the photo was taken, not why a bright, blob-like light appears, said
Cristian Riffo, director of the La Serena UFO Museum, who was also consulted for the UMAG report.
Riffo noted that the camera traps are designed to minimize false positives caused by insects, lasers or other stimuli. He thinks the rapid sequence of photos, in which the light appears to move toward the camera, is baffling and hard to explain.
"It could be two different phenomena: one natural, which triggered the camera, and the other, a light phenomenon, which remains unexplained," Riffo told Live Science.
Before Stonehenge: One of Europe's Oldest Monuments Emerges in Austria
Archaeological teams in southeastern Austria have made an extraordinary discovery that pushes back our understanding of European monumental architecture by thousands of years.
Imagine standing in a vast circular arena, its earthen walls rising around you under ancient skies. Now imagine that this monument was already ancient when the first stones of Stonehenge were being dragged across the English countryside, and older still than when Egyptian pharaohs first dreamed of pyramids. In the rolling hills of southeastern Austria, archaeologists have uncovered exactly such a place: a complex of three massive circular enclosures that hosted mysterious gatherings over 6,500 years ago, making them among humanity's earliest experiments in monumental architecture.
At Rechnitz, near the Hungarian border in Burgenland province, excavations have revealed traces of three massive circular enclosures dating back over 6,500 years. These Neolithic structures represent some of Central Europe's earliest examples of organized communal construction, predating both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids by millennia.
The discoveries form part of preparations for constructing a new Archaeological Visitor Center and open-air Stone Age Village in Rechnitz. This ambitious project, integrated within Burgenland's Masterplan Archaeology initiative, aims to transform how the public experiences prehistoric heritage through interactive exhibitions and reconstructed Neolithic settlements. Regional governor Hans Peter Doskozil emphasized that thorough documentation must precede construction, ensuring no archaeological evidence is lost records a Land Burgenland report.
Kreisgrabenanlagen: Europe's First Monumental Architecture
The centerpiece of Rechnitz's archaeological significance lies in its circular enclosures, known in German as Kreisgrabenanlagen. These monumental ditch-and-bank structures, some exceeding 100 meters in diameter, were constructed by Neolithic societies across Central Europe between approximately 4800 and 4600 BC. Their purpose remains one of archaeology's most debated mysteries, with theories ranging from astronomical observatories to ritual centers or defensive fortifications.
Rechnitz stands out because three separate circular enclosures were discovered here between 2011 and 2017 - an unusual concentration suggesting the area served as a significant regional center during the Middle Neolithic period. These structures are part of a broader network of similar monuments stretching from Austria and Hungary through Germany to the Czech Republic, indicating shared architectural traditions among early European farming communities.
The current excavations, led by Nikolaus Franz, head of Archaeology Burgenland, follow years of non-invasive archaeological surveying. Advanced geomagnetic surveys conducted by GeoSphere Austria first revealed the presence of postholes, ceramic fragments, storage pits, and ditches beneath the surface. These techniques allowed archaeologists to map the ancient settlements before physically excavating them.
The excavation trench follows the planned walkway path from the visitor pavilion to the circular enclosure, based on geomagnetic soil surveys by GeoSphere Austria. (Land Burgenland)
Franz describes the site as "a window into the Stone Age," emphasizing that the Neolithic period marked humanity's revolutionary transition from hunting and gathering to organized agriculture and permanent settlement. Bioarchaeological analysis of soil samples is underway, while the University of Vienna conducts specialized research on soil formation and geology to understand how agricultural landscapes developed in the region thousands of years ago.
Astronomical Alignments and Ritual Significance
Some researchers interpret these circular enclosures as proto-observatories, noting that many feature entrances aligned with sunrise or sunset during key agricultural seasons. This theory connects Rechnitz to other famous Neolithic astronomical sites like the Goseck Circle in Germany, considered the world's oldest solar observatory. Such alignments would have been crucial for early farming communities tracking seasonal changes essential for crop cultivation.
The monumental scale and communal effort required to construct these enclosures suggests they held profound social and possibly religious significance. Unlike earlier hunter-gatherer societies, these Neolithic communities invested tremendous resources in permanent structures designed to endure generations, symbolizing their commitment to sedentary agricultural life.
Cultural Heritage and Tourism Potential
The planned Archaeological Visitor Center represents Burgenland's commitment to making prehistoric heritage accessible to contemporary audiences. Until recently, these ancient earthworks were barely visible to the naked eye, detectable only through aerial photography and magnetometric surveys. The new facility will use reconstructions, interactive exhibitions, and educational programs to bring 6,500-year-old Neolithic life vividly to life for visitors from around the world.
This project positions Rechnitz within Austria's growing cultural tourism sector while contributing invaluable scientific data to ongoing debates about early European civilization. As construction approaches, archaeologists race against time to complete documentation, ensuring that future generations can study these remarkable testimonies to humanity's earliest monumental achievements.
The discoveries at Rechnitz confirm the town's importance within a vast prehistoric network of circular monuments that demonstrate sophisticated architectural knowledge and social organization among Central Europe's first farming communities. These findings continue to reshape our understanding of the Neolithic revolution and its lasting impact on European civilization.
Top image: Aerial view of the archaeological excavation site showing the project area for the Circular Enclosure & Stone Age Village in Rechnitz, Austria
UFO Moves Across Sky Over Minneapolis, Minnesota on Aug 24, 2025, UAP Sighting News. VIDEO!
UFO Moves Across Sky Over Minneapolis, Minnesota on Aug 24, 2025, UAP Sighting News. VIDEO!
Date of sighting: Aug 24, 2025
Location of sighting: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Source: NUFORC
Now hold on a second, if you look at the video at first it looks like balloons, but when I take a screenshot and enlarge it, this is a single craft. This is odd for sure and I have to admit, its glowing parts or flashes are baffling to me. This is one extraordinary UFO! It moves with the wind across the sky, but it's not balloons because there are no strings, it's not a weather balloon because they have transponder boxes required by law hanging below. This is a real UFO and it seems to be interested in the people watching it, as if it were deliberately trying to be seen.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Eyewitness states:
Noticed in air, took video. Morphing multiple spheres like bunch of grapes. Shimmering/reflecting sun. Two observers were on a hill overlooking a sunset. The object was gray in color but also shimmered or was made of reflective material. The side facing the sunset was the side of the object that was shimmering. It was composed of multiple spheres that kept moving to create different formations. The spheres all seemed to be a part of a singular object. It was flying fast, silently and straight, heading roughly southeast. I looked at a flight radar and there were no planes in the vicinity. It was flying lower than a typical airplane. One observer is an electrician and artist (weaving) . The other observer is an artist (multi-disciplinary).
UFO Caught During Sunset Over New York, New York, Aug 25, 2025, UAP Sighting News.
UFO Caught During Sunset Over New York, New York, Aug 25, 2025, UAP Sighting News.
Date of sighting:Aug 25, 2025
Location of sighting: New York, New York, USA
Source: NUFORC
This report is fascinating. The eyewitness was on the top of a building recording the sunset and accidentally caught a UFO. Now maybe it was shooting past at high speed, uncloaked or just was revealed by the digital eye of the camera...is unknown...but one thing is for sure...UFOs get revealed during sunsets. So that leads me to conclude that the suns angle combined with the right digital lens...causes UFOs that are cloaked to be revealed for anywhere between 15 seconds to a few minutes. Sunsets are the most common time of the day to catch a UFO due to these things. Was it a UFO? Oh yeah...it sure was.
Scott C. Waring - UFO Sightings Daily
Eyewitness states:
I was filming and taking photographs from E137th street in the Bronx on a rooftop facing east.Viewing sunrise from the east, behind Throgsneck, I continuously shot a plane crossing the horizon into Laguardia Airport.
When I processed the Cr2 files, i noticed in a single frame, an object was captured. Disc like with a rounded top and flat bottom. It did not appear in any frame but one. I checked my camera, the lens, the sensor. Nothing suggests that the object was dust or anything ordinary.
Appearing in one frame suggests it was in transit at high speed and I was lucky to capture it by matching the frame rate. That’s my best guess.
Bizarre flying objectsare usually considered a stateside phenomena.
But a remarkable shot shows one brazenly flying though the hills in the north of England – and experts are baffled.
The mysterious aerial entity was snapped outside of Shipton in Yorkshire by photographer and local man John Tunnah.
Eerily, the Yorkshire resident took about 10 or 12 photographs from his vantage point but the object only appeared in one of them.
Mr Tunnah said they were the 'first photos on an unfamiliar camera' that he had only just purchased.
He described the phenomenon as a probable 'UFO' – an unidentified flying object.
And it's remarkably similar to the classic UFO saucer shape depicted in popular culture, with a distinctive round and elongated shape.
'Why it was manoeuvring at low level over West Yorkshire was a mystery,' Mr Tunnah told the Daily Mail.
The bizarre saucer-shaped object was snapped with a Pentax Optio SVi camera by Yorkshire photographer John Tunnah
The photo, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was taken with a Pentax Optio SVi camera one Saturday morning, according to Mr Tunnah.
The photo, shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, was taken with a Pentax Optio SVi camera one Saturday morning, according to Mr Tunnah.
'I was travelling home with it when I noticed, behind the hills beyond Silsden, a perfectly formed arch of cloud – like a cloudy rainbow,' he said.
'I pulled in, intending to take photos. By the time I'd sorted the camera out the arch had broken up as per the photo, but I took a few shots anyway.
'That evening, I was playing with the camera and deleting shots I'd taken when I came across this one showing something on the far left.
'It didn't appear on any of the other photos I'd taken at the time.
'I'm not a "flying-saucer", or "alien visitation" freak, but whatever it was deserves the term UFO.'
Mr Tunnah, originally from Scotland, then showed the perplexing snap to some of his friends 'just out of interest'.
'They all tended to agree that it was "real", "solid" and appeared to be travelling at speed from the dissipating "arch" on the horizon,' he said.
The Yorkshireman's attention was drawn by a perfectly formed arch of cloud over the trees (centre) - and only later did he notice the saucer-shaped object on the left
What is the mystery object?
The object is remarkably similar to the classic UFO saucer shape depicted in popular culture, with a distinctive round and elongated shape.
John Tunnah, who took the picture, speculated that it could be a Skunk Works-type aircraft close to the horizon.
Alternatively, it could be a fast-moving animal nearer the camera lens.
'Various theories were put forward – such as "flying saucer" and very short lived cloud.'
The resident speculated that it could also be be a 'Skunk Works-type aircraft of previously unknown design'.
Skunk Works is the official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), responsible for developing highly classified experimental aircraft.
Nick Pope, a UFO expert formerly with the UK's Ministry of Defence, offered a number of explanations for Mr Tunnah's photo.
'When photos show an anomaly that wasn't seen at the time, I suspect either a glitch with the camera, or a fast-moving object like a bird or an insect, close to the lens,' he told the Daily Mail.
But the US Department of Defense – otherwise known as the Pentagon – declined to comment on the image.
UFO stands for 'unidentified flying object' and so the term doesn't necessarily describe an object with an extraterrestrial origin.
But some of its characteristics adhere to common descriptions of what UFOs look like.
Most UFOs have been described as ‘orb’, ‘round’ or ‘sphere’, but other reported shapes include polygon, triangle and 'Tic Tac', says the Pentagon
A Pentagon document published in 2023 revealed that the typical UFO has a round shape, usually spherical or an orb, with a white or silver colour.
Based on what it knows from reported sightings between 1996 and 2023, other UFO shapes include rectangle, oval, triangle, disk, cylinder, square and even polygon.
Meanwhile, 16 per cent have been described as having lights, although in many cases this may have been due to their reflective qualities.
Pentagon baffled by 8,000 mysterious UFO orbs hovering over US military bases
An invasion of small metallic orbs has been spotted hovering over the US in recent years, leaving the Pentagon scrambling to identify these mysterious UFOs.
Among these, 422 reports specifically describe metallic orbs, with the majority observed between 1am and 4am near military installations in New York, California, and Arizona.
Eyewitnesses, including civilians, pilots, and military personnel, reported seeing the spheres hover silently before moving at extreme speeds, leaving no trace of their departure.
Some of the sightings have been captured on video or radar, though many remain unexplained.
Ancient Jesus Cup Discovered in Egypt May Contain World's First Christ Reference
A remarkable ceramic vessel discovered beneath the waters off Alexandria, Egypt, may represent the earliest known reference to Jesus Christ outside of Christian scripture. The so-called "Jesus Cup" was unearthed in 2008 by French marine archaeologist Franck Goddio during extensive underwater excavations of Alexandria's ancient harbor. The ceramic bowl, remarkably well-preserved except for a missing handle, bears a compelling Greek inscription that has sparked intense scholarly debate about early Christian influence in ancient Egypt.
The inscription, written in Greek capitals as "DIA CHRSTOU O GOISTAIS," translates to "Through Christ the chanter" or "Through Christ the magician." Dr. Jeremiah Johnston, a respected New Testament scholar, explained during a recent Trinity Broadcasting Network segment that this artifact dates to the first century AD, the precise era when Jesus was crucified, reports the Daily Mail. This timing positions the cup as potentially the earliest physical evidence of Christ's recognition outside Judea, suggesting his reputation as a powerful wonder-worker had spread across the Mediterranean world within decades of his ministry.
The cup was discovered at a submerged site that included the ancient island of Antirhodos, where Cleopatra's palace may have been located. Goddio and his team from the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology have been systematically exploring Alexandria's sunken harbor since 1992, uncovering remarkable artifacts that illuminate the cosmopolitan nature of this ancient city. Alexandria in the first century was a melting pot where paganism, Judaism, and early Christianity intersected, creating unique religious practices that incorporated elements from multiple traditions.
The bowl's design closely resembles vessels depicted on early Egyptian statuettes showing fortune-telling ceremonies. Ancient magical manuals describe how practitioners would pour oil into water and enter ecstatic trances, seeking visions of mystical beings who could answer questions about the future. According to Goddio, invoking Christ's name may have been intended to legitimize these soothsaying rituals, drawing on his already established reputation as a miracle worker.
Not all experts agree on the inscription's interpretation, highlighting the challenges of deciphering ancient texts with religious significance. Bert Smith, professor of classical archaeology at Oxford University, proposes that the engraving may reference a person named "Chrestos" who belonged to a religious group called the "Ogoistais" rather than Jesus Christ. Klaus Hallof, director of the Institute of Greek Inscriptions at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy, supports this alternative reading, noting that historians from the bowl's era, including Strabo and Pausanias, mention deities called "Osogo" or "Ogoa."
Scholar Steve Singleton offers yet another interpretation, arguing that "chrstos" simply means "good" or "kind," translating the inscription as "[Given] through kindness for the magicians." György Németh of Eötvös Loránd University proposes a practical explanation: the bowl may have been used for preparing ointments, with "Chrstos" or "DIACHRISTOS" referring to an anointing salve rather than the biblical figure. These diverse interpretations reflect the complexity of ancient religious practices in Alexandria, where magical traditions freely incorporated names and concepts from various spiritual traditions.
Historical Implications and Significance
If the inscription truly refers to Jesus Christ, it would represent unprecedented material evidence of his existence and influence dating to the first century AD. This discovery would significantly advance the historical timeline of Christian awareness in Egypt, demonstrating that knowledge of Jesus's life and miracles had reached Alexandria within decades of his crucifixion. Such evidence would challenge historians to reconsider both the geographic spread and the speed of early Christian influence throughout the Roman Empire.
The artifact's discovery in Alexandria holds particular significance given the city's role as a center of learning and religious innovation. The famous Library of Alexandria and the city's diverse population created an environment where ideas from different cultures and faiths could merge and evolve. Early Christian communities in Alexandria were known for their theological sophistication and their ability to engage with Greek philosophy and Egyptian religious traditions, making it a logical place for Christ's reputation to have taken root quickly.
Top image: Ancient ceramic bowl discovered off Alexandria coast showing Greek inscription that may reference Christ.
Source: Jeremiah J. Johnston, Prestonwood/ Daily Mail
European researchers are developing a three-member team of robots that can cooperatively explore lunar caves. In this image, the robots are being tested on the Spanish volcanic island of Lanzarote. Image Credit: Aerial Skylight Robots/ University of Malaga
Protecting astronauts and equipment during missions outside of Earth's protective sphere is critical to successful space exploration. The Moon is a malign environment where powerful solar radiation bombards the surface unimpeded.
The Moon's temperature swings, the wildest in the Solar System, reach highs of 121 Celsius and lows of -146 Celsius. Some polar locations are in a permanent -240 Celsius deep freeze.
There are also micrometeorites. With no atmosphere to stop them, micrometeorites pummel the surface at extremely high velocities up to 70 km/second (157,000 mph.) Some research shows that up to 10,000 kg of micrometeorites strike the Moon every day.
Astronauts need protection from all of these hazards. Orbital images of the Moon show that there are numerous lava tubes on the Moon that could keep astronauts safe. These were formed during ancient lava eruptions. When part of a lava tube ceiling collapses it leaves an opening called a skylight that shows up in images.
This image from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a section of collapsed ceiling in a lava tube in Mare Tranquillitatus. Rocky debris from the collapse is seen at the bottom of the pit. The pit is about 100 meters deep, but only further exploration can determine how long or large the lava tube is.
Image Credit: By NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13518, Public Domain.
There are also visible sinuous rilles on the surface indicating the path and length of some tubes. While many have collapsed almost completely, others have not. Some rilles reach great lengths. Rima Sharp, a rille on the lunar near side, is up to 566 km long, though some researchers say it is actually two separate rilles.
Rima Sharp may be the longest lunar rille at 566 km in length, though some consider it to be a pair of separate rilles.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.
There's been a lot of research into the idea of using these caves for protection. There are concepts for bases constructed inside of them where astronauts could live and work. But they need to be explored before those plans can take any concrete steps. The collapsed skylights are seen as possible entrances into some of these caves, and scientists have thought hard about how they could be used to access the caves and explore them.
A team of European researchers have designed a trio of robots with different capabilities that could work together to explore lunar caves and assess their potential. The researchers have tested them on Lanzarote, a volcanic island in Spain's Canary Islands. The team's work is presented in a new research letter published in Science Robotics titled "Cooperative robotic exploration of a planetary skylight surface and lava cave." The lead author is Raul Dominguez from the Robotics Innovation Center at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence.
While the Moon is the next place where astronauts will get their boots on the ground, Mars is part of this work, too. Mars also has lava tubes with collapsed skylights, and astronauts visiting the planet could also benefit from their protection. Additionally, Mars has astrobiological importance that the Moon lacks.
"Exploration of lava caves on the surface of planetary bodies near Earth is of high importance for scientific research and space exploration," the authors write. "The natural shielding that these caves offer against radiation and small meteorites makes them well suited for preserving exobiological signatures and protecting human-made facilities. The use of a robot team arises as the safest and most cost-efficient way to explore extraterrestrial lava caves because they are difficult to access."
The team are working on a three-member team of heterogeneous robots that work together autonomously to explore lava tubes in four phases.
SherpaTT is a hybrid wheeled and legged robot that performs surface exploration and acts as a surface anchor to lower another robot, Coyote III, into the lava tube. Coyote III is a small, lightweight, highly-mobile wheeled rover. LUVMI-X is the third rover. It's lightweight and cost effective, and performs mapping along with SherpaTT.
The three robots and their capabilities.
Image Credit: Dominguez et al. 2025 SciRob
In phase 1, the entrance area around the lava tunnel is mapped by SherpaTT and LUVMI-X. In phase 2, a sensorized payload cube with high-speed cameras is ejected into the cave from LUVMI-X to collect initial data about the entrance and the cave floor. In phase 3, the Coyote III scout rover rappels into the cave while being anchored to SherpaTT. In phase 4, the scout rover explores and maps the cave in 3d.
This image shows the three members of the robotic team tested on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
Image Credit: Dominguez et al. 2025. SciRob
The team tested the operation on Lanzarote Island in February 2023.
The researchers aimed to test each phase of the mission several times in order to gauge effectiveness and understand what improvements are needed. They were unable to test each phase as many times as they desired due to weather and other constraints, but still achieved good results.
"In MP-1, SherpaTT and LUVMI-X collaborated to generate a DEM with enough accuracy to identify the skylight and place the rovers in the correct position during the following phases," the authors write.
"During MP-2, the skylight was explored using the payload cube, which demonstrated its capacity to recreate the skylight in 3D by emulating a free fall under lunar gravity through a pulley system," the authors explain.
MP 3 was also successful. Coyote III was autonomously lowered into the cave without damage.
MP4, the cave-mapping portion of the test, was also validated. "Coyote III was suitable for traversing the harsh terrain and collecting point clouds through remote control, therefore validating the locomotion and data acquisition approach," the authors write. Coyote III successfully traversed different terrains in the cave, but was unable to execute point turns "in consolidated irregular rocky surfaces because of high friction," the authors explain.
These panels show some of the results of the testing for mission phase 4. The testing validated the cave reconstruction and the mobility and effectiveness of Coyote III. A shows the skylight mesh image produced by Coyote III. B shows the skylight Time of Flight data visualization. C shows the rovers travelling through a narrow corridor. D shows the passage Time of Flight visualization. E shows the Coyote III cave reconstruction. F shows ground-truth rover cave reconstruction for F(i) the skylight area and F(ii) the narrow corridor area.
Image Credit: Dominguez et al. 2025 SciRob
The researchers say that a "heterogeneous autonomous robot team is a promising approach" for the exploration of lunar and Martian lava caves. "The presented analog field test showed reliable and efficient performances in most of the defined MPs," they write. " However, the mission concept needs further research to be extrapolated to a real planetary exploration scenario."
3-4 billion years ago, Mars’ volcanoes spewed large amounts of sulfur-containing gases. And it was not sulfur oxide, as previously thought, but hydrogen sulfide and sulfur hexafluoride. These are much stronger greenhouse gases and could well have created a climate on the planet conducive to life.
Sulfur crystals on Martian rock. Source: phys.org
Sulfur-containing gases and the early climate of Mars
Although the early climate of Mars remains an open question, new research suggests that its atmosphere may have been hospitable to life thanks to volcanic activity that released sulfur gases that contributed to the greenhouse effect.
Using data from the composition of Martian meteorites, researchers conducted more than 40 computer simulations with different temperatures, concentrations, and chemistry to estimate how much carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur gases could have been released on early Mars.
Instead of the high concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) predicted by previous climate models of Mars, their research shows that volcanic activity on Mars approximately 3-4 billion years ago could have led to high concentrations of several chemically “reduced” forms of sulfur, which are extremely reactive. These include hydrogen sulfide (H2S), disulfur (S2), and possibly sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), an extremely potent greenhouse gas.
According to lead author Lucia Bellino, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Jackson School of Geosciences, this could have led to a unique environment on Mars – one that could have been hospitable to certain forms of life. This means that the presence of “reduced sulfur” could have caused a foggy environment, leading to the formation of greenhouse gases such as SF6, which trap heat and liquid water. This could have created hydrothermal systems that support diverse microbial life.
The role of sulfur in the chemical processes of ancient Mars
Previous studies of Mars have examined how the release of gases on the surface, often as a result of volcanic eruptions, could have affected the planet’s atmosphere. This study, in turn, simulated how sulfur changed during geological processes, including how it separated from other minerals when incorporated into magma layers beneath the planet’s surface. This is important because it provides a more realistic picture of the chemical state of the gas before it was released onto the surface, where it could have shaped the early climate conditions on Mars.
The study also showed that sulfur may have frequently changed its form. While Martian meteorites have high concentrations of reduced sulfur, the Martian surface contains sulfur that is chemically bound to oxygen. “This suggests that sulfur cycling – the transition of sulfur into different forms – may have been a dominant process on early Mars,” Bellino said.
Last year, while the team was conducting its research, NASA made a discovery that seemed to confirm their findings. NASA’s Curiosity rover turned over and cracked a rock, revealing elemental sulfur. Although Mars is known for its abundance of sulfur minerals, this was the first time the mineral had been found in its pure form, unbound to oxygen. This was one of the confirmations of the research team’s hypotheses.
Further climate modeling
As the team continues its work, it will use its computer simulations to investigate other processes that would have been necessary to support life on Mars, including sources of water on early Mars and whether volcanic activity could have provided a large reservoir of water on the planet’s surface. They also seek to understand whether reduced forms of sulfur could have served as a food source for microbes in an early climate that resembled Earth’s hydrothermal systems.
Mars is far from the Sun, and today its temperature is typically cold, averaging -80°F. Bellino hopes that climate modeling experts will be able to use her team’s research to predict how warm the early Martian climate might have been, and if microbes were present, how long they could have survived in a warmer atmosphere.
3-4 billion years ago, Mars’ volcanoes spewed large amounts of sulfur-containing gases. And it was not sulfur oxide, as previously thought, but hydrogen sulfide and sulfur hexafluoride. These are much stronger greenhouse gases and could well have created a climate on the planet conducive to life.
Sulfur crystals on Martian rock. Source: phys.org
Sulfur-containing gases and the early climate of Mars
Although the early climate of Mars remains an open question, new research suggests that its atmosphere may have been hospitable to life thanks to volcanic activity that released sulfur gases that contributed to the greenhouse effect.
Using data from the composition of Martian meteorites, researchers conducted more than 40 computer simulations with different temperatures, concentrations, and chemistry to estimate how much carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur gases could have been released on early Mars.
Instead of the high concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) predicted by previous climate models of Mars, their research shows that volcanic activity on Mars approximately 3-4 billion years ago could have led to high concentrations of several chemically “reduced” forms of sulfur, which are extremely reactive. These include hydrogen sulfide (H2S), disulfur (S2), and possibly sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), an extremely potent greenhouse gas.
According to lead author Lucia Bellino, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Jackson School of Geosciences, this could have led to a unique environment on Mars – one that could have been hospitable to certain forms of life. This means that the presence of “reduced sulfur” could have caused a foggy environment, leading to the formation of greenhouse gases such as SF6, which trap heat and liquid water. This could have created hydrothermal systems that support diverse microbial life.
The role of sulfur in the chemical processes of ancient Mars
Previous studies of Mars have examined how the release of gases on the surface, often as a result of volcanic eruptions, could have affected the planet’s atmosphere. This study, in turn, simulated how sulfur changed during geological processes, including how it separated from other minerals when incorporated into magma layers beneath the planet’s surface. This is important because it provides a more realistic picture of the chemical state of the gas before it was released onto the surface, where it could have shaped the early climate conditions on Mars.
The study also showed that sulfur may have frequently changed its form. While Martian meteorites have high concentrations of reduced sulfur, the Martian surface contains sulfur that is chemically bound to oxygen. “This suggests that sulfur cycling – the transition of sulfur into different forms – may have been a dominant process on early Mars,” Bellino said.
Last year, while the team was conducting its research, NASA made a discovery that seemed to confirm their findings. NASA’s Curiosity rover turned over and cracked a rock, revealing elemental sulfur. Although Mars is known for its abundance of sulfur minerals, this was the first time the mineral had been found in its pure form, unbound to oxygen. This was one of the confirmations of the research team’s hypotheses.
Further climate modeling
As the team continues its work, it will use its computer simulations to investigate other processes that would have been necessary to support life on Mars, including sources of water on early Mars and whether volcanic activity could have provided a large reservoir of water on the planet’s surface. They also seek to understand whether reduced forms of sulfur could have served as a food source for microbes in an early climate that resembled Earth’s hydrothermal systems.
Mars is far from the Sun, and today its temperature is typically cold, averaging -80°F. Bellino hopes that climate modeling experts will be able to use her team’s research to predict how warm the early Martian climate might have been, and if microbes were present, how long they could have survived in a warmer atmosphere.
In 1977, scientists discovered a mysterious signal beaming from space that was so powerful it prompted astronomer Jerry Ehman to write 'Wow!' on the telescope's readout.
Now, a team of experts has re-examined the signal's data with modern techniques and found that it could be even stranger than previously thought.
According to the new analysis, the Wow! signal was more than four times stronger than earlier estimates suggested.
The scientists were also able to definitively dismiss a number of natural or human explanations.
There were no known TV stations at that time which could have created the signal, nor were there any satellites passing overhead.
And although scientists believe that the Wow! signal is likely to have a natural cause, they say alien sources can't yet be ruled out.
Co–author Dr Hector Socas-Navarro, director of the European Solar Telescope Foundation, told Daily Mail: 'While aliens aren’t completely off the table, it seems that the signal may have originated by a natural astrophysical source. Our goal now is to find that source.'
For decades, scientists have struggled to find any natural process capable of producing the 72–second burst which prompted astronomer Jerry Ehman to write 'WOW!' on the telescope's readout
Using new data, the scientists also refined the area of the sky from which the signal emerged. This map shows the new refined regions (yellow) compared to the previous estimates (grey)
The Wow! signal was detected by astronomers at the Big Ear Observatory in Delaware, Ohio, back in 1977.
Scientists at the observatory were scanning the sky for radio waves as part of a hunt for extra-terrestrials when the telescope picked up an extraordinary signal.
The sudden burst of radio waves was not only exceptionally powerful, but it was also abnormally long-lasting – continuing for a full 72 seconds.
Additionally, scientists noted that the signal's frequency was in the so-called hydrogen line, which is a band of frequencies emitted by atomic hydrogen.
Since hydrogen is so abundant in the universe, some suggested that advanced civilisations might be using its frequency as a calling card for signalling to other intelligent species.
Strangely, the signal never repeated, and scientists haven't yet found another burst in the same frequency that is nearly as intense.
However, further study of the Wow! signal has been made difficult by the fact that all the data from the Big Ear Observatory is on paper printouts.
In this new paper, a team of researchers and volunteers painstakingly digitised over 75,000 pages of data from the observatory.
Researchers and volunteers analysed over 750,000 pages of data from the Big Ear Radio Observatory in Ohio, where the Wow! Signal was spotted
What are the theories to explain the signal?
There have been many theories over the years for what could have been the source of the short-lived, narrow-band radio signal that became known as the Wow! signal.
At the time, it was seen as having all the traits of having come from a distant planet, but the inability to pick it up again has frustrated astronomers.
While some have taken it to be a radio message broadcast by an alien beacon into space, others have looked for other astronomical sources.
Theories have included collisions between asteroids and stars, flares from stars, merging white dwarfs and colliding neutron stars.
Now, experts suggest that it could have been caused by energy from a neutron star triggering a cloud of atomic hydrogen gas to release a laser burst.
For the first time ever, this allowed for the computational analysis of data about the Wow! signal.
Dr Hector Socas-Navarro says: 'The paper basically rewrites the basic stats of the Wow! signal.'
In addition to showing that the signal had been stronger than previously thought, the researchers have been able to characterise the burst much more accurately.
They narrowed the part of the sky that the signal came from to two small regions, each of which produced a different component of the signal.
The researchers were also able to determine this location with two-thirds greater statistical certainty.
Additionally, this new data slightly revises the signal's frequency – putting it at 1420.726 MHz rather than 1420.4556 MHz.
That keeps the signal solidly within the hydrogen line, but that small change suggests that whatever produced the signal must have been spinning a lot faster than previously thought.
This means the source must be moving at about 46 miles per second (74 km/s), over double the previous estimate of 18 miles per second (30 km/s/).
The researchers say that the most likely cause of the Wow! signal is an intense beam of energy from a dying star hitting a cloud of cold hydrogen, causing it to produce a laser-like burst which hit Earth
'This means that when we look for candidates, the ones moving at that speed will stand out, like a very tall person in a large crowd, and it will be easier to identify the emitting source,' says Dr Socas-Navarro.
Importantly, this research also rules out some natural phenomena that had been suggested as possible explanations.
It had been proposed that a man-made signal could have bounced off the moon and been mistakenly picked up by the observatory.
However, this new analysis clearly shows that the moon would have been on the wrong side of the planet at this time, so nothing could have bounced off it.
Likewise, the sun was not active enough during the year 1977 to produce anything close to the Wow! signal's intensity.
That means the Wow! signal really must have come from somewhere outside our solar system.
However, there are still many questions remaining about the origins of this mysterious radio beam.
Lead author Professor Abel Mendez, of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, told Daily Mail: 'We can’t rule out an extraterrestrial communication signal explanation for the Wow! Signal yet, but the evidence points to a natural origin.'
The dying star could have been a magnetar, which produce the most powerful magnetic fields in the Universe and are rare, explaining why the Wow! Signal has not been repeated
Previous research has spotted several signals which appeared to be extremely similar to the Wow! signal, albeit considerably fainter.
Four of those originated from the tiny red dwarf star, Teegarden's Star, which is just 12.5 light-years from Earth, and is surrounded by clouds of pure hydrogen.
Professor Méndez says: 'The most likely origin of the Wow! Signal is a maser flare or superradiance emission from a neutral hydrogen cloud.
'Small clouds emit consistent narrowband signals similar to the Wow! Signal but much weaker, so a cloud became temporarily much brighter due to any of these processes.'
The Fermi Paradox questions why, given the estimated 200-400 billion stars and at least 100 billion planets in our galaxy, there have been no signs of alien life.
The contradiction is named after its creator, Italian physicist Enrico Fermi.
He first posed the question back in 1950.
Fermi believed it was too extraordinary that a single extra-terrestrial signal or engineering project has yet to be detected in the universe — despite its immense vastness.
Fermi concluded there must a barrier that limits the rise of intelligent, self-aware, technologically advanced space-colonising civilisations.
This barrier is sometimes referred to as the 'Great Filter'.
Italian physicist Enrico Fermi devised the so-called Fermi Paradox in the 1950s, which explores why there is no sign of alien life, despite the 100 billion planets in our galaxy
If the main obstacle preventing the colonisation of other planets is not in our past, then the barrier that will stop humanity's prospects of reaching other worlds must lie in our future, scientists have theorised.
Professor Brian Cox believes the advances in science and engineering required by a civilisation to start conquering the stars will ultimately lead to its destruction.
He said: 'One solution to the Fermi Paradox is that it is not possible to run a world that has the power to destroy itself.
‘It may be that the growth of science and engineering inevitably outstrips the development of political expertise, leading to disaster.'
Other possible explanations for the Fermi Paradox include that intelligent alien species are out there, but lack the necessary technology to communicate with Earth.
Some believe that the distances between intelligent civilisations are too great to allow any kind of two-way communication.
If two worlds are separated by several thousand light years, it's possible that one or both civilisations would become extinct before a dialogue can be established.
The so-called Zoo hypothesis claims intelligent alien life is out there, but deliberately avoids any contact with life on Earth to allow its natural evolution.
Although the exact reason is still a mystery, there could be several causes, such as changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth's core, and a weakening magnetic field.
While the loss of a few milliseconds is not a cause for too much concern, a frightening new book imagines a world literally 'spinning out of control'.
In 'Circular Motion' by Alex Foster, days on Earth last 23 hours, then 20 hours, and then eventually two hours.
Like a supercharged spinning top, the planet spins so fast that even gravity loses its grip, as the sun rises and sets ever faster.
Now, experts reveal the real implications of such a terrifying scenario, from large-scale disasters, floods and earthquakes.
A new novel called 'Circular Motion' by Alex Foster imagines a world literally spinning out of control, until a day last just two hours
In Foster's new novel, Earth's rotation speeds up due to a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth at 30,000 feet, revolutionising global transportation.
The acceleration of Earth’s spin begins gradually, and days are just a few seconds shorter than normal, so nobody initially notices.
However, Earth’s spin progressively gets faster and faster until a day lasts just two hours – triggering a global catastrophe.
If Earth's spin really did get faster, experts say it cause a 'centrifugal effect' where the things start to swing away from the planet's axis, much like the hanging chairs on a spinning carousel ride.
Earth's oceans would start to bulge around the equator, giving the planet more of a diamond shape, with sloping northern and southern hemispheres.
Water pulled from the polar regions (where centrifugal force is low) would cause the Arctic Ocean to become shallower and send the equatorial region underwater.
Even land around the equator that's not underwater could have a greatly increased chance of tsunamis and flooding.
Duncan Agnew, professor of geophysics at the University of California San Diego, said the 'largest changes would be in the ocean tides'.
This long-exposure photo of the northern night sky above the Nepali Himalayas shows the apparent paths of the stars as Earth rotates. If Earth spun fast enough, is this what we would see?
According to scientists, July 9, July 22 and August 5 this year were between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24-hour day . Although the exact reason is still a mystery, there could be several causes, such as changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth's core, and a weakening magnetic field (stock image)
Could the world keep going faster?
It is unlikely that the world will start to spin faster. In fact, the world is actually slowing down over time.
About 4.4 billion years ago, the planet was spinning so fast that days lasted four minutes. But this slowed down after a large object hit Earth and created the moon.
The only way Earth could speed up is if a large object hits at just the right angle. But this would likely liquify the planet's crust, so no humans would survive to see the results.
The daily rotation of the Earth produces two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes.
'Change that by 10 per cent and the tides in some places would get larger and in others smaller,' Professor Agnew told the Daily Mail.
Also, the faster the Earth's spin, the faster tectonic plates would move, would could add to more geological stress and 'a lot of earthquakes', the academic added.
It’s worth remembering that the equator (where Earth’s circumference is the widest) spins faster than elsewhere, such as the tropics or the poles.
The equator spins at about 1,025 miles (1,650km) per hour, while the poles spin barely above zero miles per hour.
As Earth spins and we go around with it, we are held into place by gravity, but if the Earth spun fast enough, centrifugal force would overcome gravity, causing objects to be flung into space.
'The faster Earth turns, the more gravity will be canceled out and the lighter you’ll feel,' said Foster in a piece for New Scientist.
Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy if the world's spin greatly increases, researchers claim. In this picture from space, a swirling hurricane forms
The faster Earth's spin, the faster tectonic plates would move, would could add to more geological stress and 'a lot of earthquakes'. Pictured, damage from Afghanistan earthquake, September 4, 2025
NASA astronomer Dr Sten Odenwald also warned that weather phenomena would become more extreme, capable of causing more damage.
As the planet spins faster, an apparent force known as the Coriolis effect, which gives hurricanes their spin, intensifies.
'Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy,' Dr Odenwald said.
If Earth’s spin increased, there would of course also be both less sunlight in the day and less time to sleep at night, which might make humans less productive.
People would have keep putting their clocks back as the days shortened, or come up with a whole new time-keeping system.
Humans have a 'circadian rhythm' – an internal clock that is closely attuned to the 24-hour day – which can cause physical and mental issues if disrupted (by factors like plane travel).
Additionally, many satellites would no longer be positioned correctly, which could disrupt satellite communications, internet, TV broadcasting and more.
Luckily, Professor Agnew said the idea of Earth's rotation speeding up to the extent portrayed in the new novel is a 'particularly absurd premise'.
Each day on Earth contains 86,400 seconds, but the rotation isn't uniform, which means over the course of a year, each day has a fraction of a second more or less
'This cannot happen and nothing like it has ever been observed for any planet or star,' Professor Agnew told the Daily Mail.
In actual fact, the Earth has been rotating more and more slowly over the long-term, but this change has been very gradual.
'A billion years ago the day was maybe 19 hours long,' he told the Daily Mail.
'If you went back to when there were dinosaurs and didn't have a clock you wouldn't probably notice that the day was 30 minutes shorter.'
Dr Judah Levine, Fellow of the US government's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Maryland, also questioned how close the book's premise is to 'real physics'.
'If the story is loosely connected to reality, then the speed-up of Earth had to be accompanied by something else losing angular momentum, maybe the orbit of the moon,' he told the Daily Mail.
'This is a fundamental principle.'
Maybe the orbit of the moon losing angular momentum could cause the speed-up of Earth, he added.
'If that is what happens, the moon gets a lot closer, and the tidal effects become much stronger and more frequent because the periods are driven by the length of the day.'
Is Earth's rotation really speeding up?
Earth normally takes 24 hours, or exactly 86,400 seconds, to complete one full rotation, which is called a solar day.
The fastest day recorded so far was one year ago on July 5, 2024, when Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours.
According to scientists, July 9, July 22 and August 5 this year were between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24-hour day.
Earth's rotation has never been perfect, as it shifts by tiny amounts throughout time, getting a few milliseconds faster or slower.
However, scientists didn't start keeping exact records of these changes until the 1970s.
Scientists observe the phenomenon on atomic clocks - incredibly accurate machines that keep time by measuring the vibrations of atoms.
Natural forces like climate change may be playing a role in the planet's spin.
Weather patterns like El Niño and the accelerated melting of glaciers in summer may literally be throwing the planet out of balance by a tiny degree.
Another reason for this sudden change could be shifting molten layers in the core. Earth is not solid all the way through. Its core is made of hot, swirling liquid metal.
As that molten metal moves, it can change the planet's shape and balance.
Scientists are looking at all these pieces together, the moon's orbit, core activity, ocean flow, and wind patterns, to figure out what's going on.
Independent researcher Ben van Kerkwyk was a recent guest on the Joe Rogan Experience, where he discussed a discovery off the coast of Spain that could be the mythical city.
'There's a guy named Michael Donnellan...And he thinks he's found, at least, if not Atlantis, a part of Atlantis off the coast of Spain. And they 100 percent found some s*** in the waters,' van Kerkwyk said.
Rogan, looking stunned, could only respond with 'Wow,' mentioning Donnellan's upcoming documentary 'Atlantica' that reveals massive linear structures and enormous concentric circular walls littering the seafloor.
Donnellan, an independent archaeologist, told the Daily Mail that descriptions in Plato's writings, which perfectly match their findings of ruins, prehistoric settlements and ancient mines in the region of Gades, are the strongest evidence for an Atlantic civilization.
These discoveries, including underwater structures and sediment-covered sites indicating sudden destruction, align with Plato’s accounts of climate, societal structures, and ancient mythologies, providing a comprehensive context for their claims.
'All those details align perfectly with the region we’re studying, as our investigations reflect Plato’s texts with extraordinary precision, truly to a perfect degree,' Donnellan said.
For centuries, the mystery of Atlantis has captivated explorers and scholars alike, but one archaeologist now believes the legendary city may have once stood along Spain's southern coast in the city of Cádiz (pictured)
Massive structures were found around 65ft below the surface. The team also identified 'long, linear structures' etched across the ocean floor
Donnellan found the submerged ruins along the coast around Cádiz, a city in Andalusia.
'When you read Plato's texts, the Timaeus and Critias, he's got all these incredible details of what the place was like, where it was, that you could plant all year long, that it was in the region of Gades in the Atlantic,' he said
Donnellan spent eight years investigating the coast of Cadiz using an advanced sonar system used for high-resolution seafloor mapping, creating detailed 3D images of the underwater environment.
Van Kerkwyk noted that Donnellan used Merlin Burrows' satellite investigation techniques and aerial photography to uncover the hidden structures.
'It's fascinating, they 100 percent found something that is manmade,' said van Kerkwyk.
The technology revealed long linear structures etched across the ocean floor, which formed a series of enormous concentric circular walls, each standing more than 20 feet tall and arranged in an organized pattern.
'The team brings together a wide array of specialists and technologies, from the dive team to the scanning experts and the academics who have contributed to this project,' said Donnellan.
'I want to take a moment to thank the extended team for all their hard work and dedication.'
Joe Rogan was left speechless when his guest revealed new 'evidence' about the location of Atlantis, a city mentioned in Plato's writings
The underwater ruins were found off the coast of Spain, near ancient fishing corrals (pictured)
The outermost wall showed the most damage, as if it had been pummeled by a massive tsunami racing in from the sea.
The second and third walls, he said, were 'completely displaced,' with scans showing them split into two.
Between the walls sat intricately carved canals, and at the center was a rectangular ruin that, according to Donnellan, echoes Plato's description of Poseidon's temple, forming what he believes is the capital city of Atlantis.
Donnellan is among the many scholars who believe in a cataclysmic event around 12,000 years ago that wiped out an advanced civilization.
The controversial Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) suggests Earth passed through debris from a disintegrating comet.
The resulting impacts and shockwaves destabilized massive ice sheets, causing massive flooding that disrupted crucial ocean currents and triggered rapid climate cooling. However, the theory is not widely accepted by mainstream scholars.
Michael Donnellan, archaeologist and filmmaker, has spent eight years investigating what he believes is the city of Atlantis off the coast of Spain
'Plato tells you about the animals that helped out with the daily activities, the horse, the bull and the elephant,' he said.
Donnellan explained that the original horse in this area is believed to be the oldest breed in the world, along with the fighting bull from Andalusia, which traces back thousands of years.
He added there was also a prehistoric ivory trade through this part of Spain, noting that three types of elephants were there, including Asian elephants, which suggested there was international commerce between this region and Asia.
'All of those details coincide perfectly with where we're studying,' Donnellan said.
A valley located in Arizona has been dubbed the scariest national park in the US after sightings of UFOsand Bigfoot have been reported.
Monument Valley sits on the Utah-Arizona border and is full of strange and eerie sights.
The breathtaking park sits on Navajo tribal land and is said to be one of the most photographed places on earth with its stunning sandstone rock formations and desert environments.
But for Navajo Ranger Stanley Milford Jr., the land is more than just a beautiful place, but full of ghosts, UFOs, extraterrestrials, and more, he said in his memoir The Paranormal Ranger.
'There’s much more to this world than we can imagine,' Milford, who is part Cherokee and Navajo, wrote. 'I quickly learned to shut my mouth and open my ears.'
For more than 20 years, Milford served as a ranger in the park. For 11 of those, he worked on a covert team that investigated UFOs and paranormal activity that was reported within the Navajo Reservation.
He spent his summers with his father on the reservation and was well-versed in the tribe's culture, which helped him while he was investigating paranormal activity on the land.
'However, this doesn’t mean that the cases I investigated didn’t shock or challenge or change me,' he wrote.
For more than 20 years, Milford served as a ranger in Monument Valley (pictured above)
For more than 20 years, Milford served as a ranger in the park. For 11 of those, he worked on a covert team that investigated UFOs and paranormal activity that was reported within the Navajo Reservation (pictured: stock image of UFO)
Monument Valley has been compared to the X Files. Pictured: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are seen above in season one of the show
He recalled a time feeling an 'invisible finger touch my lip'.
'It moved across my mustache, from one side to the other. [Then] I heard two male voices, about three feet away, but there was no one there.'
He also witnessed a chair flying across a room, a laptop battery crashing into a wall, and coins falling and all landing heads-up.
'The only conclusion was that a spirit was saying: "Heads up, I’m here."'
His fellow investigator found a dollar bill with 'die' written on it and a butcher's knife fly across the room.
Officer workers in Window Rock, Arizona, heard 'disembodied voices' and felt 'unseen hands touch them'.
Arizona is one of the hottest areas to spot a UFO.
The desert town of Sedona, which is located approximately 210 miles away from Monument Valley, sits in both Coconino and Yavapai Counties. It had 484 UFO sightings between 2000 and 2023, according to an Axios report.
'There’s much more to this world than we can imagine,' Milford (pictured), who is part Cherokee and Navajo, wrote. 'I quickly learned to shut my mouth and open my ears'
He recalled a time feeling an 'invisible finger touch my lip.' He also witnessed a chair flying across a room, a laptop battery crashing into a wall, and coins falling and all landing heads-up, he revealed in his memoir (pictured)
These numbers put the area well above the national average of 34 people per 100,000.
Psychic and UFO tour guide John Polk, 56, told Daily Mail in May that he sees extraterrestrial activity nightly from his home in Sedona, where he's lived for the last eight years.
The native Floridian said: 'There's tons of activity. It's easy to see it.'
He believes Sedona is such a high-traffic area for UFOs due to the vortexes the city is known for.
Sedona is also a very spiritual place and is known as the 'door to the world' due to vortexes that are believed to open portals to other dimensions and provide healing energy.
Polk said Sedona has quartz along the ley lines - invisible gridlines that often fall into triangles that are believed to carry powerful energy - that help build electromagnetic energy that creates electricity, and ultimately, a pathway for ETs.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the F-16 Viper fighter jet was hit by an 'orange-white UAS' - which stands for un-crewed aerial system, better known as a drone.
His fellow investigator found a dollar bill with 'die' written on it and a butcher's knife fly across the room. Officer workers in Window Rock, Arizona, heard 'disembodied voices' and felt 'unseen hands touch them'
Arizona is one of the hottest areas to spot a UFO (pictured: Monument Valley)
The desert town of Sedona (pictured) had 484 UFO sightings between 2000 and 2023
The FAA's report of the F-16 collision revealed that the fighter was flying in restricted airspace near Gila Bend, Arizona, when it was hit by the object in the rear of the canopy, the glass bubble which protects the pilot.
No injuries were reported. The Air Force did not reveal how much damage the jet suffered, but the plane was grounded for repairs.
Within a day of this collision, there were three more unidentified aircraft sightings over the Air Force's Barry Goldwater Range, where the fighter was damaged, the documents stated.
Who are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Few images in religious literature are as striking or enduring as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Emerging from the pages of the Book of Revelation, these four riders—Conquest, War, Famine, and Death—are harbingers of divine judgment and symbols of humanity’s perpetual struggles. With their vivid and ominous descriptions, the Four Horsemen have captured the imagination of theologians, artists, writers, and scholars for centuries.
But the horsemen are more than mere figures of doom; they are reflections of universal themes, from unchecked ambition to violent conflict, economic instability, and the inevitability of mortality. Various interpretations have been made over the millennia as to what their existence in the pages of the Bible could truly mean. Click through this gallery to see who (or what) the horsemen could possibly be.
Symbolism The Four Horsemen are key figures in the Book of Revelation from the Bible. Each of them embodies a significant event of the apocalypse that is set to come: conquest, war, famine, and death.
The Son According to the Book of Revelation, the Four Horsemen are brought forth by Jesus Christ himself. Also known as the Lamb of God (or Lion of Judah), Christ opens four of seven seals that end up summoning the apocalypse.
Conquest The first horseman, riding a white horse, wields a bow and wears a crown of victory. As his name suggests, he is prominently associated with conquest and conquering. Some interpretations also connect him with pestilence, while others argue he represents Christ or the antichrist.
War The red horse signifies war, with the rider removing peace from Earth and wielding a large sword. This horseman’s actions result in widespread violence and slaughter in a symbol of human conflict on a devastating scale during the end times.
Famine The third horseman, riding a black horse, holds scales in his hand. He represents scarcity and famine, with the high cost of wheat and barley reflecting economic collapse. During the apocalypse, luxuries like oil and wine remain unhindered, which shows the inequality that exists in apocalyptic suffering.
Death The pale horse of the fourth horseman represents death, trailed by Hades. This rider is perhaps the most notorious. He has the authority to kill a quarter of the Earth’s population through famine, pestilence, war, and wild beasts.
Four interpretations Ever since the Book of Revelation came into existence, many scholars and theologians have attempted to interpret the symbolism of the horsemen. There are four primary schools of interpretation and perspective that exist today.
1. Idealist interpretation The idealist approach interprets the horsemen allegorically, depicting a timeless battle between good and evil. It sees these symbols as universal struggles that apply to all people, regardless of historical context or future events.
The allegorical focus of idealism Idealists emphasize that the horsemen represent spiritual and moral struggles rather than literal events that will happen once the apocalypse comes to pass. Since this approach is based on allegory, an interpreter can assign any meaning they want to the symbols.
Throughout time The idealist perspective also refrains from placing the Four Horsemen in any specific period of time. As such, the symbols in the Book of Revelation become timeless and applicable to every era.
2. Futurist interpretation Just like the name implies, futurism views the Four Horsemen as harbingers of future catastrophic events leading to the end times. Each rider symbolizes a specific sequence of events in a prophetic timeline, beginning with conquest and ending with widespread death.
Futurist debates Futurists often debate whether the first horseman, Conquest, represents Christ or an antichrist figure. Some argue that his conquest signifies the gospel’s triumph, but others view his weapon and actions as inconsistent with Christ’s message, which suggest that he’s an impostor pretending to be Christ.
War and unrest In the futurist perspective, the red horse symbolizes wars and civil unrest that will intensify in the end times. It predicts escalating global conflicts as a direct consequence of the conquest initiated by the first horseman.
Famine in the future According to futurists, the black horse predicts the collapse of economic systems and widespread famine, where even basic staples become unaffordable. The protection of luxuries like oil and wine simply highlights the stark inequality during this apocalyptic era.
Death’s inevitability Death on the pale horse represents the culmination of all the apocalyptic events. The horse is sometimes depicted with a greenish hue or as a skeleton, which some believe to symbolize decay and disease, with the rider unleashing destruction through a combination of war, famine, pestilence, and predatory animals.
3. Preterist interpretation Preterists believe the horsemen and the rest of the Book of Revelation represent events from the 1st century CE. The symbols are linked to figures like Roman Emperor Vespasian’s generals or the Empire’s turmoil.
Religious struggle Many Christians experienced significant hardship under the eye of the Roman Empire. Preterists believe that the horsemen reflect the sociopolitical struggles of early Christian communities.
Historical context According to preterism, the first horseman often represents mounted archers from the Parthian Empire, who were known for riding white horses. This interpretation links the rider’s conquest to historical military campaigns, emphasizing tangible events from the Roman Empire’s history.
Civil unrest Preterists associate the red horse with the constant civil strife that plagued the Roman Empire. This unrest, characterized by violence and bloodshed, mirrors the horseman’s actions of removing peace and causing widespread slaughter.
Famine’s literal representation Preterists believe that the black horse signifies famine and economic disparity during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The scarcity of essentials resulted in the suffering of the masses, while the wealthy were spared from hardship.
Literalism Preterist interpretations often take a literal approach to the horsemen, with swords, wild beasts, and famine directly representing real historical elements.
4. Historicist interpretation Historicism interprets the four horsemen as four symbolic stages of the Church’s history, from its early purity to periods of persecution, institutionalization, and spiritual decline. The symbols align with the church’s journey through successive eras.
Purity According to historicists, the white horse signifies the early church’s purity and Christ’s victory over sin. Historicism connects the first horseman’s bow and crown to Old Testament imagery, reflecting God’s power and the triumphant spread of the gospel in its initial years.
Persecution The red horse depicts the bloodshed of Christian martyrs during the early Roman persecutions. Historicists emphasize the violent opposition the Church faced as it struggled to establish itself amidst widespread hostility.
Institutionalization The black horse represents the Church’s institutionalization, marked by the infiltration of pagan practices and a diminishing focus on Christ as the “bread of life.” This era in the Church’s history reflects spiritual famine rather than physical scarcity.
Papal dominance The fourth horseman’s pale horse represents the period of Papal supremacy, during which scripture was inaccessible to laypeople. The spiritual control that the papacy held is equated to death, emphasizing the Church’s loss of transparency and connection with ordinary believers.
Cultural impact The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have transcended religious texts, becoming iconic symbols in literature, art, film, and popular culture. Even the 13th card in a tarot deck is of Death (sometimes the Grim Reaper) astride his pale white horse.
Moral warnings Beyond their apocalyptic roles, the horsemen can serve as moral warnings about human behavior. Conquest warns of unchecked ambition, war of violence, famine of inequality, and death of humanity’s mortality and frailty.
Despite the fear they evoke, the Four Horsemen ultimately point toward the resolution of divine justice. For believers, their role in the apocalypse signifies not just destruction, but the ushering in of a renewed and redeemed world.
Does the Vatican know something about UFOs and aliens that we don’t? Are popes after popes keeping secrets? Might there be a conspiracy between the Curia and an extraterrestrial civilization? Is this an unfounded rumor? How can we find out?
Well, we could ask. And that’s just what I plan to do here.
The Vatican Observatory in Outer Space
From 1987 to 2002, I had the opportunity to work on a joint project including the Vatican Observatory (VO) and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS). Saint Pope John Paull II took a specific interest in this project, meeting with us every two or three years. We relied on the very able leadership of then VO Director, astronomer George Coyne, S.J.
Former Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo near Rome
We called it the Divine Action Project (DAP). By bringing scientists and theologians along with philosophers together, we sought to articulate a coherent way to understand God’s action in nature’s world. The world of nature we studied included the electron within the atom as well as the expanding universe of perhaps two billion galaxies.
From time to time we snooped around in the research of the staff scientists both at Castelle Gandolfo in Italy and the University of Arizona in the United States. I recall a number of Vatican astronomers were working on star formation, publishing scientific papers right along with other observatories around the world.
Although the astronomers reported very little direct research on ETI and theology, it was not uncommon to talk about astrobiologyand extraterrestrial neighbors in the Milky Way.
In no way did I perceive the slightest nervousness, obfuscation, or deceit from the scientist-Jesuits over a decade and a half. They seemed to know what was commonly known in the globwide scientific community about the possibilities of extraterrestrial life. Nothing less. Nothing more. No reason to whisper, speculare, or accuse anyone of conspiracy on this subject matter.
We like to gossip about what the Vatican knows.
When David Grusch testified before the Oversight Committee of the US House of Representatives last month and spoke in an interview with NewsNation about UFOs, he said the Vatican had in its possession both a crashed spaceship as well as one or more alien pilots. He dated this during the Mussolini period, 1933. Yes, Grusch said with confidence, the Vatican knows. What a titilating rumor under the guise of whistle blowing. But, until we see the evidence, we simply will not know what the Vatican knows. Allegedly.
Seth Shostak, an astronomer at SETI, asks: where’s the evidence?
“David Grusch says they’re here. But either he can’t prove it, or he won’t. Until he does, we should consider his stories to be just that: stories.”
If the Vatican has the evidence, let’s see it.
Why not just ask the Vatican about UFOs and Aliens?
UFOs and Aliens at the Vatican?
So, let’s ask the Vatican. But, whom should we pepper with our questions? Pope Francis? The Holy Father has already told us he would baptize an alien if the alien asks for it. Now, just how many aliens has this pontiff already baptized? Mmmmm? Well, what Francis said, in my opinion, seems much too innocuous a statement to be worthy of conspiracy speculation.
So, let’s ask José Gabriel Funes. Why him? Because Jose served as Director of the Vatican Observatory from 2006 to 2015. He’s an accomplished astromer and, like so many of his VO
After departing VO, Jose returned to his native Argentina to teach and conduct research. Jose spent this past sabbatical academic year in Berkeley with his Jesuit colleagues and with us at CTNS. Jose has told me that he has not seen any empirical evidence that would support these rumors. The question of extraterrestrial life is an open question awating future scientific dciscovery.
TED: Jose, whistleblower discussion in the United States strongly hints there is first hand knowledge of UFOs and aliens at the Vatican. But, rumor has it, the Vatican maintains this knowledge in secrecy. You have told me that the Vatican Observatory is not the holder of such secret knowledge. The question of off-Earth civilizations remains a strictly scientific question and an open question. What do you think?
Jose G. Funes, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory 2006-2015
JOSE. I think that the scientific community should investigate this information in a multidisciplinary approach.
Secondly, not everyone is able to do scientific research. In simple words, you should get a driving license in sciences to carry on scientific research. That license is the doctorate that universities on behalf of the academic community bestows. The academic system is not perfect but is the best we have. Moreover, results of the research must go through peer review. As I wrote in the epilogue of my recent book on SETI research, we need patience and humility. We live in a culture of immediacy. We may not see in our time any proof of ETI existence. We also need to get along with the fact that our legitimate questions may not have answers.
Third, in the hypothetical case that we find any form of extraterrestrial life, I do not see any contradiction with the faith in God the Creator. However, the potential discovery would challenge our theological thinking becoming less parochial, less anthropomorphic, and anthropocentric.
Now, Jose has shared this statement with a wide audience who has asked him my kind of question.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it. Are you disappointed? Is this just one more rumor about secret knowledge of UFOs and aliens in the Vatican with no conclusive answer? Or, is it just as much as anyone knows about UFOs and aliens at the Vatican?
Aliens, Tijd en De Esoterische Kennis van Andere Dimensies
Aliens, Tijd en De Esoterische Kennis van Andere Dimensies
Inleiding
Het onderwerp van buitenaards leven, de aard van tijd en het bestaan van andere dimensies heeft sinds mensenheugenis de menselijke verbeelding en het wetenschappelijke discours gefascineerd. Van de oude beschavingen die mythologische wezens associeerden met sterren tot de moderne zoektocht naar buitenaardse intelligentie, blijven deze thema’s centraal staan in zowel wetenschap als esoterische tradities. Deze dissertatie onderzoekt de interactie tussen het concept van buitenaardse wezens, de aard van tijd en de vermeende esoterische kennis over andere dimensies. Door een interdisciplinair perspectief te combineren, worden wetenschappelijke theorieën en esoterische overtuigingen naast elkaar geplaatst om een holistisch beeld te schetsen van deze complexe onderwerpen.
Vensters naar een parallelle universum?
Wetenschappelijke benadering van buitenaards leven
De wetenschappelijke benadering van buitenaards leven is een complex en multidisciplinair veld dat zich richt op het begrijpen van de mogelijkheid dat andere beschavingen in het universum bestaan. Een van de bekendste methoden binnen dit domein is de Drake Equation, ontwikkeld door de astronoom Frank Drake in 1961. Deze vergelijking biedt een probabilistische schatting van het aantal technologische beschavingen in onze Melkweg door verschillende parameters te modelleren, zoals de frequentie van stervorming, de kans dat een ster een planeet krijgt, en de waarschijnlijkheid dat leven zich ontwikkelt op zo’n planeet. Hoewel veel van deze parameters onzeker zijn en op schattingen gebaseerd, geeft de Drake Equation wel een inzicht in de mogelijke omvang van buitenaards intelligent leven en suggereert dat het niet ondenkbaar is dat dergelijke beschavingen bestaan.
Naast de astronomische benaderingen speelt de astrobiologie een centrale rol in het begrijpen van de voorwaarden waaronder leven kan ontstaan en voortbestaan. Deze discipline bestudeert de biologische en chemische aspecten van het leven in het universum. Recent onderzoek naar extremofielen op aarde – organismen die in uiterst extreme omstandigheden overleven, zoals in hete bronnen, diepe oceanen of in giftige omgevingen – heeft aangetoond dat leven niet per se gebonden is aan de traditionele aardse condities. Dit vergroot de plausibiliteit dat leven onder andere omstandigheden en op andere planeten of manen mogelijk is. Exoplaneten die zich bevinden in de zogenaamde 'bewoonbare zones' van sterrenstelsels, waar de temperatuur geschikt is voor vloeibaar water, worden als belangrijke kandidaten beschouwd voor het zoeken naar buitenaards leven.
Toch blijft het bewijs voor buitenaards intelligent leven tot nu toe uit. Er zijn enkele opmerkelijke anomalieën die de interesse van wetenschappers wekken, zoals de beroemde 'Wow!'-signalen die in de jaren 1970 werden opgevangen en die mogelijk een buitenaardse oorsprong zouden kunnen hebben. Daarnaast worden er regelmatig onverklaarbare waarnemingen gedaan van onidentificeerbare vliegende objecten (UFO's). Hoewel sommige onderzoekers deze waarnemingen beschouwen als mogelijke aanwijzingen voor buitenaardse activiteit, ontbreekt het nog aan solide, wetenschappelijk bewijs dat bewijst dat buitenaardse wezens contact met de aarde proberen te maken of hebben gemaakt. Het zoeken naar buitenaards leven blijft dus een boeiend veld dat zich zowel op astronomisch, biologisch als technologische niveaus ontwikkelt, met veel vragen nog onbeantwoord.
Welkom in de nieuwe realiteit.
sun ok/Shutterstock
Tijd als dimensie en de relativiteitstheorie
In de natuurkunde wordt tijd vaak beschouwd als een fundamentele dimensie, net zoals de drie ruimtelijke dimensies (lengte, breedte en hoogte). Tot voor kort werd tijd meestal als absoluut en universeel gezien: een universele klok die overal hetzelfde tikte, ongeacht waar je je bevond of hoe snel je bewoog. Echter, met de ontwikkeling van Albert Einsteins relativiteitstheer, vooral de algemene relativiteitstheorie, werd dit beeld radicaal veranderd. Einstein liet zien dat tijd en ruimte niet los van elkaar staan, maar dat ze samen één geheel vormen: de ruimtetijd. In deze theorie worden tijd en ruimte verweven in een vierdimensionaal continuüm, waarbij de aanwezigheid van massa en energie de structuur van de ruimte-tijd beïnvloedt.
Volgens de relativiteitstheorie wordt de manier waarop tijd verloopt, afhankelijk van de positie en beweging van de waarnemer. Een belangrijk concept hierbij is de tijdsdilatatie: het verschijnsel dat tijd voor een waarnemer die zich snel beweegt of zich in een sterk vervormde ruimte bevindt, langzamer verloopt ten opzichte van een stilstaande waarnemer. Dit is experimenteel aangetoond door bijvoorbeeld atoomklokken die op grote hoogten of tijdens snelheden in ruimteschepen verschillen in de gemeten tijdsverloop laten zien. Hoe sneller een object beweegt of hoe sterker de zwaartekracht, hoe meer de tijd wordt uitgerekt of vertraagd. Dit betekent dat tijd niet absoluut is, zoals vroeger werd gedacht, maar relatief en afhankelijk van de situatie van de waarnemer.
Deze inzichten openen de deur naar fascinerende theoretische mogelijkheden, zoals tijdreizen. Hoewel tijdreizen in de praktijk nog buiten bereik ligt en veel wetenschappelijke en technische obstakels kent, blijven de theoretische fundamenten interessant. Sommige wetenschappers speculeren dat het misschien ooit mogelijk zou kunnen zijn om door de tijd te reizen door gebruik te maken van exotische toestanden van de ruimte-tijd, zoals wormgaten of tegenspoedige zwarte gaten. Echter, deze concepten blijven voorlopig binnen de theoretische kaders en worden niet als haalbaar beschouwd binnen de huidige technologie.
Naast de relativiteitstheorie verkent de moderne kwantumfysica en theorieën zoals de snaartheorie en M-theorie de diepere structuur van het universum. Deze theorieën suggereren dat ons universum mogelijk meer dan vier dimensies bevat: naast de drie ruimtelijke en één tijdsdimensie, zouden er nog meerdere, verborgen dimensies kunnen bestaan. Sommige modellen stellen dat deze extra dimensies klein en opgesloten zijn, waardoor ze niet direct waarneembaar zijn. Andere theorieën beschrijven een veel complexere structuur waarin verschillende tijdlagen en dimensies kunnen bestaan, die mogelijk invloed op ons universum uitoefenen. Dit roept vragen op over de aard van de realiteit en de mogelijkheid om interactie te hebben met deze andere werelden of dimensies. Het onderzoek hiernaar is nog in volle gang en vormt een van de meest intrigerende en complexe gebieden binnen de moderne natuurkunde.
Esoterische kennis en andere dimensies
Naast de wetenschappelijke benaderingen die onze wereld en het universum proberen te verklaren, bestaan er oude en moderne esoterische tradities en kennisystemen die de realiteit op een heel andere manier benaderen. Deze systemen gaan uit van het bestaan van meerdere dimensies en werelden, die niet direct waarneembaar zijn met onze zintuigen, maar wel via innerlijke ervaringen, meditatie, trance of channeling toegankelijk kunnen worden. In veel spirituele en mystieke stromingen wordt aangenomen dat onze bekende fysieke wereld slechts één aspect is van een veel complexere multiversum, waarin hogere of andere dimensies bestaan die ons vaak onbekend blijven.
Al eeuwenlang spreken oude beschavingen zoals de Egyptenaren, Hindoes en Kelten over 'andere werelden', 'hemelen' of 'verschillende rijken' waar geascendeerde meesters, goden, geesten en voorouders resideerden. Deze werelden worden vaak beschreven als spirituele gebieden die via meditatie, rituelen of trance bereikt kunnen worden. In de Egyptische mythologie bijvoorbeeld, werden de onderwereld en de hemel beschouwd als verschillende gebieden met hun eigen wezens en wetten. De Hindoeïstische traditie spreekt over de vele lokas of werelden, die verbonden zijn met karma en reïncarnatie. De Kelten hadden hun verhalen over de 'Otherworld' – een magische wereld die parallel liep aan onze realiteit, en die toegankelijk was voor sjamanen en helden.
In de moderne esoterische en channeling-kringen wordt vaak gesproken over 'multi-dimensionale realiteiten'. Deze ideeën worden ondersteund door technieken zoals meditatie, trance en lucid dreaming, waarmee men toegang zou kunnen krijgen tot informatie uit hogere of niet-fysieke dimensies. Mensen die zichzelf of anderen channelen, beweren boodschappen en kennis te ontvangen van entiteiten uit deze hogere werelden, zoals gidsen, beschermengel of buitenaardse wezens. Deze kennis wordt vaak gebruikt voor spirituele groei, genezing of het verkrijgen van inzichten die niet via de reguliere zintuigen kunnen worden verkregen.
In het kader van buitenaards leven en ufologie wordt ook wel gesproken over 'interdimensionale wezens'. Dit zijn wezens die niet vastzitten aan onze fysieke dimensie en zich mogelijk kunnen verplaatsen via niet-fysieke routes of portals tussen verschillende realiteiten. Sommige theorieën suggereren dat deze wezens al eeuwenlang onze wereld bezoeken en dat ontmoetingen met hen vaak plaatsvinden op het grensvlak van fysieke en niet-fysieke werelden. Ze zouden zich kunnen manifesteren in trance, dromen of als schimmerelementen, waardoor ze moeilijk te detecteren zijn met reguliere technologie.
Deze ideeën over meerdere dimensies en interdimensionale wezens vormen een fascinerende aanvulling op de wetenschappelijke kennis, maar blijven voor velen een mysterie. Ze bieden een raamwerk waarin de grenzen van onze fysieke realiteit kunnen worden uitgedaagd en uitgebreid, en waarin de mogelijkheid bestaat dat onze wereld verbonden is met een veel groter, complexer geheel dat nog grotendeels onontdekt en onbegrepen is.
Starseeds beweren dat ze een buitenaardse bewustzijn zijn dat op aarde woont.
Ross Collier/Alamy Stock Foto
De interactie tussen wetenschap en esoterie
De interactie tussen wetenschap en esoterie is de laatste jaren steeds zichtbaarder geworden, ondanks dat deze twee disciplines traditioneel als tegenpolen worden beschouwd. Wetenschap richt zich op het objectief onderzoeken van de werkelijkheid door middel van waarneming, experimenten en bewijs, terwijl esoterie zich vooral bezighoudt met innerlijke ervaring, spirituele inzichten en het verkennen van niet-fysieke werelden. Toch ontstaan er steeds meer kruispunten waar deze werelden elkaar ontmoeten en beïnvloeden.
Een van de meest interessante gebieden waar deze interactie zichtbaar wordt, is de recente ontwikkeling van theorieën over het universum. Zo resoneren de ideeën over holografische universa en multiversa sterk met esoterische opvattingen over meerdere werelden en dimensies die parallel aan onze eigen bestaan. Wetenschappers zoals Leonard Susskind en Gerard 't Hooft hebben hypotheses ontwikkeld waarin ons waarneembare universum wordt beschouwd als een soort hologram, een projectie van informatie die in een hogere dimensie wordt opgeslagen. Dit sluit aan bij esoterische tradities die spreken over meerdere niveaus van werkelijkheid en hogere dimensies die niet direct waarneembaar zijn, maar wel invloed uitoefenen op ons bestaan.
Daarnaast bieden theorieën over hogere dimensies, zoals die uit de snaartheorie, een wetenschappelijk kader dat mogelijk de oude esoterische overtuigingen over niet-fysieke werelden kan onderbouwen. In deze theorieën worden het heelal en de werkelijkheid beschreven als bestaande in meer dan de gebruikelijke drie ruimtelijke dimensies, wat ruimte laat voor het bestaan van andere, onzichtbare werelden die via hogere dimensies toegankelijk zouden kunnen zijn.
Ook in de kwantumfysica zien we raakvlakken met esoterie. Verschijnselen zoals entanglement, waarbij deeltjes op afstand met elkaar verbonden blijven, worden door sommige wetenschappers geïnterpreteerd als aanwijzingen voor een onderliggende verbondenheid die niet afhankelijk is van ruimte en tijd. Dit concept lijkt sterk op de esoterische ideeën over universele eenheid en de verbondenheid van alles in het universum. Sommige filosofen en onderzoekers zien hierin een mogelijkheid om via bewustzijn en hogere kennis toegang te krijgen tot deze verborgen aspecten van de werkelijkheid.
Tegelijkertijd roept deze kruisbestuiving ook vragen op. Bijvoorbeeld over de grenzen van de wetenschappelijke methode, die primair gebaseerd is op empirisch bewijs en reproduceerbaarheid. Esoterische tradities benadrukken juist dat niet alle kennis via objectieve waarneming kan worden verkregen; innerlijke ervaring, meditatie en spirituele ontwikkeling worden als waardevolle manieren gezien om hogere werelden en kennis te bereiken. Dit leidt tot een discussie over de rol van subjectieve ervaring en intuïtie in het begrijpen van de werkelijkheid. De samenwerking tussen wetenschap en esoterie opent dus nieuwe perspectieven, maar roept ook vragen op over de aard van kennis en de methoden die we gebruiken om de diepere lagen van het universum te doorgronden.
UAP: Interdimensionale Hypothese
Conclusie: Een geïntegreerde visie op buitenaardsheid, tijd en dimensies
De verkenning van buitenaards leven, de aard van tijd en de esoterische kennis over andere dimensies toont aan dat deze onderwerpen diep met elkaar verbonden zijn, zowel in wetenschappelijke theorieën als in spirituele tradities. Wetenschap biedt ons een rationeel kader om de fysieke wereld te begrijpen en te zoeken naar bewijzen voor buitenaards bestaan en hogere dimensies. Esoterie, daarentegen, nodigt uit tot een innerlijke reis en het ontwikkelen van bewustzijns- en waarnemingsvermogen om toegang te krijgen tot niet-fysieke realiteiten.
Deze twee benaderingen hoeven niet per se conflictueus te zijn; ze kunnen elkaar juist verrijken. Wetenschappelijke ontdekkingen over de structuur van het universum en de eigenschappen van tijd kunnen worden geïnterpreteerd binnen een groter metafysisch raamwerk dat de mogelijkheid van andere dimensies en buitenaardse wezens ondersteunt. Tegelijkertijd kunnen esoterische inzichten en ervaringen wetenschappelijke nieuwsgierigheid stimuleren door nieuwe vragen te genereren over de aard van werkelijkheid en bewustzijn.
Het integreren van deze perspectieven vraagt om een open houding en een interdisciplinair discours waarin wetenschap en spiritualiteit elkaar kunnen ontmoeten. Zo ontstaat een completer beeld van de werkelijkheid, waarin niet alleen de materiële wereld wordt erkend, maar ook de verborgen dimensies en de hogere kennis die mogelijk liggen in het domein van het onzichtbare en het onbewuste.
Tot slot benadrukt deze verkenning dat de zoektocht naar buitenaards leven en hogere dimensies niet alleen een wetenschappelijke of esoterische onderneming is, maar ook een innerlijke reis naar de grenzen van ons begrip en bewustzijn. Het is een uitnodiging om de mysterieuze aard van het universum te blijven onderzoeken, zowel met de ratio als met het hart, en open te staan voor de vele verborgen werelden die mogelijk naast onze eigen bestaan.
Door deze integratie kunnen we niet alleen onze kennis uitbreiden, maar ook onze spirituele en existentiële vragen verdiepen, en wellicht dichterbij komen bij het begrijpen van onze plaats in een veelvoudig en wonderlijk universum.
Now, a scientist claims to have finally solved the mystery.
Located between Florida, Puerto Rico and Bermuda, the Bermuda Triangle's long history of deadly wrecks has prompted endless supernatural speculation.
However, Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton, says that the real explanation doesn't involve UFOs or interdimensional portals.
Instead, Dr Boxall says that the Bermuda Triangle's record of disappearances is due to 'rogue waves'.
Otherwise known as extreme storm waves, these are unpredictable walls of water that can reach twice the height of the surrounding waves.
Towering up to 100 feet (30 metres) in the air, rogue waves are abnormally steep and can hit unexpectedly from directions other than the prevailing wind.
According to Dr Boxall, a large ship trapped by one of these killer swells could 'sink in a matter of two or three minutes'.
The Bermuda Triangle is home to some of the world's most famous shipwrecks, such as that of the SS Sapona (pictured), but a scientist now claims to have solved the mystery of this deadly region
Theories surrounding the deadly pull of the Bermuda Triangle have spread widely ever since the disappearance of the USS Cyclops in 1918.
The USS Cyclops was an American coal-carrying ship that had been used to ferry fuel to warships during World War I.
Despite an extensive search, no trace of the 542-foot (165-metre) vessel or its 306 crew members has ever been found.
Due to the sudden nature of the USS Cyclops's disappearance, conspiracy theorists and UFO enthusiasts have suggested dozens of wacky theories to explain the loss.
However, Dr Boxall says that the USS Cyclops was more likely to have been sunk by a rogue wave.
Speaking on the Channel 5 documentary series, The Bermuda Triangle Enigma, Dr Boxall says the Bermuda Triangle is a particular hotspot for rogue waves.
He says: 'There are storms to the south and north, which come together.
Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton, says that disappearances of ships like the USS Cyclops (pictured) could be due to 'rogue waves'
Rogue waves up to 100 feet (30 metres) in height are triggered by the convergence of storms around the tropical region of the Bahamas. These could snap a ship in two if they hit from the wrong angle, potentially explaining some of the mysterious wrecks
What are rogue waves?
Rogue, freak, or killer waves are scientifically known as 'extreme storm waves'.
These are abnormally steep and large waves, which can be twice the size of the surrounding swells.
They are very dangerous for ships since they can come from directions other than the prevailing wind.
Scientists still aren't sure how they form, but they might be triggered by multiple waves combining.
Storms may also focus wave energy into an unusual direction, joining multiple waves into a single rogue wave.
'And if there are additional ones from Florida, it can be a potentially deadly formation of rogue waves.'
Alongside his colleagues from the University of Southampton, Dr Boxall constructed a scale model of the USS Cyclops to see how it might react to a rogue wave.
This revealed that, due to the ship's flat base and massive size, it would not take long for waves to overwhelm the ship.
Dr Boxall explains that a rogue wave can be so steep that it can suspend a ship between its peaks, leaving the middle of the ship hanging over the trough.
If a large ship, which requires water to support itself, becomes suspended in this way, Dr Boxall says it will 'snap in two'.
'They are steep, they are high - we've measured waves in excess of 30 metres,' says Dr Boxall.
'If that happens, it can sink in a matter of two or three minutes.'
If the USS Cyclops - or any of the other vanished vessels - were struck by rogue waves, it would explain why they sank before being able to make a distress call.
Some scientists say that the number of plane crashes and shipwrecks within the Bermuda Triangle is completely within normal ranges, meaning there is no mystery to solve in the first place
Dr Boxall adds: 'The bigger the ship, the more damage is done.'
However, not every scientist is convinced that there really is a mystery to explain in the first place.
According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): 'There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, well-travelled area of the ocean.'
Likewise, the insurance specialist Lloyd’s of London's data shows that there are no more losses in the Bermuda Triangle than anywhere else in the world.
Those losses that do occur can easily be explained by natural forces, such as rogue waves or by the fact that the Caribbean is relatively difficult to navigate.
The NOAA writes: 'Environmental considerations could explain many, if not most, of the disappearances.
'The large number of islands in the Caribbean Sea creates many areas of shallow water that can be treacherous to ship navigation.'
THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE
The Bermuda Triangle is a section of the Atlantic Ocean roughly bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico where dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared.
Unexplained circumstances surround some of these accidents.
Although a range of strange theories have been proposed regarding the Bermuda Triangle, none of them prove that mysterious disappearances occur more frequently there than in other well-travelled sections of the ocean.
Many people navigate the area every day without incident.
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The Bermuda Triangle's biggest remaining mysteries: The 5 key unanswered questions - including what's behind the disappearance of 'hundreds' of vessels
The Bermuda Triangle's biggest remaining mysteries: The 5 key unanswered questions - including what's behind the disappearance of 'hundreds' of vessels
For some, it's the most feared stretch of water on the entire planet.
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the North Atlantic Ocean that has long been shrouded in mystery.
According to legend, ships and airplanes have a tendency to go missing there, sparking theories of supernatural causes for these disappearances.
For decades, commentators have speculated on the possibility of alien kidnappings, interdimensional portals, magnetic forces or even lost cities in the triangle.
However, there are still key unanswered questions surrounding the phenomenon, which attracts scientific interest along with wacky theories.
And they mean this section of the North Atlantic will continue to fascinate for many more years to come.
Here are the Bermuda Triangle's biggest remaining mysteries.
For decades, commentators have speculated on the possibility of UFOs or interdimensional portals in the Bermuda Triangle
(artist's depiction)
MISSING WRECKAGE
Theories surrounding the deadly pull of the Bermuda Triangle have spread widely ever since the disappearance of the USS Cyclops more than a century ago.
The USS Cyclops was an American coal-carrying ship that was used to ferry fuel to warships during World War I.
In March 1918, the ship was passing through the Bermuda Triangle on its way from Salvador, in Brazil, to Baltimore when it vanished.
Despite an extensive search, no trace of the 542-foot (165-metre) vessel or its 306 crew members has ever been found.
Some 27 years later, a squadron of bombers collectively known as Flight 19 disappeared in the airspace above the Bermuda Triangle.
As with the Cyclops incident, no explanation was given and no wreckage was found – so what happened?
While the missing Cyclops wreck is indeed mysterious, Flight 19 comprised small aircraft which would have likely broken up on impact with the sea, according to Dr Boxall.
Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer from the University of Southampton, says that disappearances of ships like the USS Cyclops (pictured) could be due to 'rogue waves'
What is the Bermuda Triangle?
The Bermuda Triangle is a mythical section of the Atlantic Ocean roughly bounded by Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico where dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared.
Unexplained circumstances surround some of these accidents.
Although a range of strange theories have been proposed regarding the Bermuda Triangle, none of them prove that mysterious disappearances occur more frequently there than in other well-traveled sections of the ocean.
Many people navigate the area every day without incident.
'Whilst there was a rescue mission no one really knew where they would have ditched with a huge search area to cover,' he told the Daily Mail.
Today, brave explorers are still diving into the area's waters to visit some of the wrecks whose remains are accounted for.
An example is SS Cotopaxi, a coal ship that vanished in 1925 on way from South Carolina to Cuba, which was finally located nearly a century later in 2020.
SS Cotopaxi was depicted in Steven Spielberg's 1977 blockbuster 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', where it was found in the Gobi Dessert having supposedly been placed there by aliens.
But the fact that it was discovered five years ago just shows that not every vessel lost in the triangle vanishes without a trace.
NUMBER OF LOST VESSELS
One of the biggest remaining mysteries is exactly how many vessels have perished in the triangle, which has Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico as its three points.
Most sources claim 50 ships and 20 airplanes have disappeared in the region's ocean and airspace, but the true figure could be much higher.
Now, almost 100 years after the ship vanished, a team of marine biologists and underwater explorers have identified the SS Cotopaxi off the coast of St. Augustine, Florida
Since the SS Cotopaxi (pictured) disappeared in 1925, it has become one of the most famous stories associated with the Bermuda Triangle
NOAA: The Bermuda Triangle is a myth
US government agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said foul weather and poor navigation are likely to blame for any mishaps in the area.
Dozens of ships and planes have mysteriously vanished in the area. But NOAA said the number there is no different to elsewhere in the world.
What's more, the theory that some mysterious supernatural force is sinking boats and planes is a myth.
'There is no evidence that mysterious disappearances occur with any greater frequency in the Bermuda Triangle than in any other large, well-traveled area of the ocean,' the agency stated
National Geographic is among the sources that puts the number at 'hundreds of ships' – so not even counting airplanes.
And because the region is not officially recognised or tracked by government agencies, any figure is unlikely to be substantiated or reliable.
MISSING DISTRESS CALLS
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, some vessels in the triangle transmitted no distress signals just before were never seen or heard from again, of which one is the USS Cyclops, which, as we know, didn't leave any debris.
However, Dr Boxall suggests that ships were suddenly struck by 'rogue waves' – unpredictable walls of water reaching a towering height.
If the USS Cyclops – or any of the other vanished vessels – were struck by rogue waves, it would explain why they sank before being able to make a distress call.
We already know that the Bermuda Triangle suffers from rough weather, but not necessarily rougher than anywhere else in the world.
In some cases, private boats have been lost in the triangle, but that may be because it is located in such a luxurious part of the world, popular with millionaires.
The Bermuda Triangle is home to some of the world's most famous shipwrecks, such as that of the SS Sapona (pictured), but a scientist now claims to have solved the mystery of this deadly region
Dr Boxall said: 'Over one third of all registered leisure vessels in the USA are based in the Bermuda Triangle, and that includes the great lakes and inland waterways.
'The 2019 US Coastguard Annual Report cites that 82 per cent of all incidents they responded to (including loss of vessels and lives at sea) could be put down to people either having no training, and/or no experience of being at sea.'
WHY DID THE VESSELS DISAPPEAR?
The reason why each and every vessel foundered in not on record, but there's the intriguing possibility several losses in the triangle are somehow linked.
Dr Boxall admits there are 'a few anomalies in this region', the first of which is the issue of gas hydrates – methane deposits resulting from rotting material on the sea floor.
'They waxy substances are solid at the high pressures of the sea floor,' Dr Boxall told the Daily Mail. 'Occasionally if the deep water warms, or if there is some from of submarine slide, [they are] released.
'As they float to the surface the drop in pressure and the warmth turns them to liquid and eventually gas as they erupt at the surface.
'These occur in many parts of the world’s oceans and whilst the idea of a big gas bubble sinking a ship seems plausible, various experiments have shown that in reality the upthrust of the bubbles balances the tendency of the ship to sink.'
IS IT ALL A HOAX?
Few regions of the planet have divided opinion like the Bermuda Triangle, with many calling it a hoax and others claiming an enormous cover-up.
According to most informed experts, the Bermuda Triangle does not have a high incidence of disappearances, at least relatively speaking.
'The Bermuda Triangle isn't particularly unusual in terms of vessels and aircraft disappearing in the ocean without trace,' Dr Boxall told the Daily Mail.
'One could extend it to cover the globe and pick up disappearances and incidents on each expansion.'
Its reputation as a particularly dangerous place for vessels to cross may be simply exaggerated – greatly helped by US magazine coverage in the 1950s.
'The concept was introduced by George X Sand in 1952 in a magazine called Fate,' the academic added.
'The article was entitled 'Sea Mystery at our backdoor' and to give you an idea of the readership of Fate it included articles like 'the truth about the flying saucers', Invisible Beings Walk the Earth' and 'Twenty Million Maniacs'.
'Prior to this the concept didn’t exist.'
Dr Boxall concluded that the Bermuda Triangle makes 'a great tale', but ultimately it can be explained rationally, without veering into pseudoscience.
The case of Flight 19
Flight 19 was an American forces flight that disappeared without trace in the triangle on on the December 5, 1949.
But Dr Simon Boxall, an oceanographer at the University of Southampton who has researched the incident, calls it 'no mystery'.
Flight 19 was a training flight with one trainer and a number of new recruits, many on their first solo flight.
At the time, there was no GPS or other electronic systems, so men had to rely instead on line-of-sight navigation and dead reckoning.
Dr Boxall explains: 'At the end of the flight the trainer (renowned for being a bit of a pompous ass) told the squad to follow him home.
'A couple of the trainees raised a question as to where they were and were concerned they were heading in the wrong direction - this was all picked up by radio.
'He basically told them they knew nothing, he was in charge, and they better follow him or they’d be in serious trouble.
'They did - in the wrong direction and out to the open sea where they eventually would have run out of fuel.
'These were small aircraft which would have broken up on impact with the sea and whilst there was a rescue mission no one really knew where they would have ditched with a huge search area to cover.'
Giant Stone 'Doorway' Discovered in Kazakhstan Sparks Ancient Alien Debate
Explorers have stumbled upon what appears to be a massive stone doorway carved into the remote Dzungarian Alatau mountains of Kazakhstan, igniting widespread speculation about its origins. The mysterious formation, measuring approximately 40 feet tall and equally wide, has captured the imagination of social media users worldwide, with some claiming it as evidence of ancient extraterrestrial visitation. Located at 6,500 feet above sea level near the Chinese border, this enigmatic structure has sparked intense debate about natural geological processes versus human intervention.
The discovery was shared through drone footage that shows two explorers dwarfed by the imposing semi-circular formation. According to a Daily Mail report, Reddit users quickly compared the structure to famous fictional doorways from popular culture, including the entrance to Jabba the Hutt's palace in Star Wars and the Doors of Durin from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The footage has gone viral across multiple platforms, with commentators ranging from amateur archaeologists to alien enthusiasts offering their interpretations of this remarkable find.
The huge door to Jabba the Hut’s palace in Star Wars, 'Return of the Jedi'.
(LucasFilm/20th Century Fox)
The Dzungarian Gate: A Historical Crossroads
The Dzungarian Alatau mountains where this formation was discovered represent one of Central Asia's most historically significant regions. This mountain range has served as a crucial passage between China and Kazakhstan for millennia, known as the Dzungarian Gate or Altai Gap. Ancient conquerors from Central Asia used this more than 3,000-mile pass as an invasion route for centuries, making it a crossroads of civilizations and cultures.
The region is renowned for its rugged terrain, featuring dramatic foothills, ridges, and ancient fortifications. Archaeological evidence suggests human presence in this area spans thousands of years, with various nomadic tribes and settled peoples leaving their mark on the landscape. Ancient petroglyphs have been discovered throughout Kazakhstan, indicating sophisticated artistic and cultural traditions among early inhabitants. The Dzungarian Gate has also been linked to mythical locations, including the legendary Hyperborea, where inhabitants supposedly lived for 1,000 years in perfect peace.
The Dzungarian Alatau mountain range at sunrise, showing the dramatic landscape where the mysterious doorway was discovered.
While social media speculation ranges from alien spacecraft entrances to ancient megalithic structures, scientists offer a more terrestrial explanation. According to the Daily Mail, Mark Allen, a professor at the University of Durham's department of Earth Sciences, suggests the formation is "to do with different weathering patterns of different rock layers" rather than artificial construction. The professor noted his experience in the region 38 years ago on the Chinese side of the border, reporting "nothing odd" about natural geological formations in the area.
Adding to the natural phenomema explanation, one Reddit user commented:
'There are a ton of these kinds of formations in Southern Utah. It's the beginning of the formation of an arch, which is very naturally occurring.'
Comparing Ancient Doorway Mysteries
The Kazakhstan discovery joins a pantheon of mysterious stone doorways that have captivated human imagination throughout history. Peru's Aramu Muru, known as the "Gate of the Gods," presents a remarkably similar phenomenon. This massive stone formation near Lake Titicaca features a carved doorway-like recess that has inspired countless theories about interdimensional portals and ancient technology. Like the Kazakhstan formation, Aramu Muru's precise geometric appearance challenges observers to distinguish between natural processes and artificial construction.
Archaeological sites worldwide demonstrate humanity's long fascination with doorway symbolism. Ancient Egyptian false doors served as spiritual passages between worlds, while megalithic structures across Europe incorporated doorway motifs into their sacred architecture. These historical examples show how doorways have consistently represented transitions, mysteries, and connections to otherworldly realms across different cultures and time periods.
The Ñaupa Waka site in Peru has an intriguingly cut altar stone, with what looks to be a doorway cut into the rock. Its origin is traditionally attributed to Inca, but this is questioned as the style and technology used to create it is not known to be Inca, and so it is likely to predate the Inca constructions that surround it, perhaps by millennia.
The Ñaupa Waka or Naupa Iglesia stone altar in Peru.
(Matthew Knot/ CC BY NC SA 2.0)
The enduring appeal of mysterious doorways reflects fundamental human psychology and spiritual beliefs. Whether formed by natural geological processes or created by ancient civilizations, these formations continue to inspire wonder and speculation about hidden knowledge, lost technologies, and connections to cosmic mysteries that extend far beyond our current understanding.
Ruins at Tiwanaku, Bolivia have fascinating cut rocks resembling doorways.
Despite scientific explanations, the Kazakhstan doorway continues generating intense interest and debate online. Social media users propose theories ranging from concealed alien bases to entrances to underground civilizations reminiscent of Tolkien's Mines of Moria. The formation's remarkable symmetry and positioning challenge even skeptical observers to consider alternative explanations beyond conventional geology.
The discovery highlights humanity's persistent fascination with unexplained phenomena and our tendency to seek extraordinary explanations for unusual natural features. Whether viewed as evidence of ancient visitation, lost civilizations, or simply remarkable geological coincidence, the Kazakhstan doorway serves as a contemporary addition to the world's collection of mysterious stone formations that continue challenging our understanding of natural and artificial boundaries.
Top image: Drone footage showing the massive stone doorway formation in Kazakhstan's Dzungarian Alatau mountains.
For centuries, humans have been scouring the universe for some kind of evidence of extraterrestrial life.
Now, social media users think it's finally been found – right here on Earth.
On Reddit, footage has emerged of explorers in front of 'a giant doorway' located in the Dzungarian Alatau mountains in Kazakhstan.
Like something from an epic movie scene, the 30-second clip shows the stunned explorers searching for a way in.
One stunned Reddit user commented that the doorway is proof of 'ancient aliens', while another asked if there's an 'alien spaceship hiding there'.
Others compared it with the 'beginning of the first Tomb Raider game' and the Doors of Durin from J. R. R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings'.
It also appears to bear similarities with the vast entrance to Jabba the Hut's palace in the Star Wars film 'Return of the Jedi'.
Millennials may also be reminded of the Temple of the Jungle King from ITV children's series 'Jungle Run'.
Explorers have found 'a giant doorway' located in the Dzungarian Alatau mountains in Kazakhstan, close to the border with China
In the Star Wars film 'Return of the Jedi' (1983), R2-D2 and C-3PO arrive at the vast door to Jabba the Hut's palace
The clip, which was also posted to X (Twitter), was filmed at the Dzungarian Alatau mountains in Kazakhstan, close to the border with China.
At an altitude of 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) above sea level, Dzungarian Alatau is known for its rugged foothills, ridges and forts.
The footage starts with a close-up of the two male explorers making cautious steps in the snow in front of a rocky mass.
Then, the airborne camera – likely attached to a drone – gradually pans out to reveal the massive semi-circular door-like formation.
Using the height of the men as a reference, the so-called 'entrance' appears to be at least 40 feet (12 metres) in height and about as wide.
But the rock behind it seems to slope downwards significantly, suggesting any secret cave beyond would have a fairly low ceiling.
On Reddit, someone pointed out: 'looks like the ridge of rock is narrower than the 'door' is tall.'
Another added: 'I mean, you can see the other side of the ridge in the drone shot. So, like.... doorway to what, the other side of the ridge?'
At an altitude of 6,500 feet (2,000 metres) above sea level, Dzungarian Alatau is known for its stunning foothills, ridges and forts
Millennials may also be reminded of the entrance to the Temple of the Jungle King from ITV children's series 'Jungle Run' (pictured)
What is the mystery doorway?
The mysterious 'doorway' in Kazakhstan has been described as a secret alien base and the 'entrance to the mines of Moria'.
More realistically, the 'doorway' could just be further evidence of 'pareidolia' - the tendency of the human mind to see patterns and symmetry.
Mark Allen, a professor at the University of Durham's department of earth sciences, said it might be 'to do with different weathering patterns of different rock layers'.
Commentators speculated on the true nature of the 'doorway', which is a different shade of brown to the surrounding rock.
One user said: 'There are a ton of these kinds of formations in Southern Utah. It's the beginning of the formation of an arch, which is very naturally occurring.'
Another user replied: 'So ancient aliens.'
A Harry Potter fan added: 'Run really fast into it and see if you end up on the other side', while a gamer said: 'It’s the doorway to a Zelda dungeon!'
Another posted: 'If it actually were a door, I’ve seen enough movies to know that something unspeakable has been sealed behind it.'
More realistically, the 'doorway' could just be further evidence of 'pareidolia' – the tendency of the human mind to see patterns and symmetry.
Mark Allen, a professor at the University of Durham's department of earth sciences, said it might be 'to do with different weathering patterns of different rock layers'.
'I was in this area 38 years ago on the Chinese side of the border [and there was] nothing odd to report,' he told the Daily Mail.
Dzungarian Alatau (pictured) lies on the boundary of the Dzungaria region of China and the Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan
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